Verizon FiOS vs Comcast Cable

Should You Choose
Verizon Fios or
Comcast Xfinity?

If you're shopping for broadband and find yourself comparing Comcast Xfinity and Verizon FiOS then you're at the right place to make an informed decision.

With Comcast being the nations largest cable provider and Verizon FiOS being the nations largest fiber optic provider, it can be a tough choice to know which is best.

Below you'll find a break down of what each company offers, where their service is available, along with recommendations on which service that might be right for your family.

Which Should You Choose?

Choosing between Verizon FiOS and Comcast Xfinity isn't as easy as it looks. While Comcast is known for it's horrible customer service, it's still not easy to know if FiOS is any better (even though they get the highest scores in the already "meh" industry).

That said, after more than 5 years of comparing these two companies here are my recommendations:

Price Shoppers — Where To Find The Best Deals

If you are someone who is looking for the best deals on your broadband and TV packages, then choose Verizon FiOS, but just watch out for their DVR cost. It's about the same as Comcast's but can run a bit more depending on the number of TVs you have in your household.

The easiest way to compare plans is to visit these specific pages below and see the current deals:

Heavy TV Watchers — It's a Tie

If you are someone who watches a TON of TV, then Comcast's new X1 platform is pretty cool. It adds one of the best TV browsing interfaces in the business, but it also has a few minor annoyances like outrageously priced movies ($5.99 to rent the Goonies) and connection issues.

The new FiOS whole home DVR records a ludicrous 12 channels at one time, but the user experience isn't quite as good and their set top pricing is weird.

To break this tie, I'd look to the picture quality, which is clear that FiOS excels just because the TV content is delivered over extremely fast fiber optic resulting in a clearer picture.

For heavy internet users, the choice is clear, you should choose FiOS. Not only are FiOS's connection speeds faster because they are delivered via fiber optic, but the company also doesn't put data caps or "data thresholds" as Comcast calls them on your plan.

This means that you can use your internet connection as much as you want and you'll still pay only 1 flat price.

This is huge if you watch a lot of Netflix, Youtube, or online content because if you choose Comcast you can chew through your 250gb limit relatively fast.

Overview:

Despite starting at a higher price point, Comcast’s lowest Triple Play bundle has a hard time competing favorably with the lowest-tier Triple Play bundle offered by Verizon FiOS. Verizon’s FiOS service comes with a faster fiber-powered broadband connections, more channels, more HD offerings, more on demand programming, and all but the largest DVRs are cheaper with FiOS. That being said, it's no wonder that customers routinely choose FiOS over Comcast. Ultimately the only key metric Comcast beats FiOS on is coverage area. Comcast is the largest cable provider in the US and Verizon FiOS is the largest fiber optic provider.

Provider Availability: Verizon FiOS vs Comcast Xfinity

One of the biggest elements to consider in your comparison between FiOS and Xfinity is whether or not the provider is even available in your area. Below you'll see maps for both FiOS and Xfinity.

Comparisons

Deals

Make an Informed Decision

Shopping for broadband providers in your area is hard. Avoid the fine print and hidden fees and let us do the heavy lifting for you. Thanks to our detailed reviews and in-depth comparisons you can now find the right broadband provider easily.